Marcus/Rocco
Pain woke me up before sunlight did. Not the sharp kind or the kind that
made you scream, but worse the deep kind.
The kind that settled into your muscles and bones like something heavy
had been poured into them overnight.
I opened my eyes slowly and immediately regretted it.
Everything hurt. My ribs, my shoulders, my arms. Even breathing felt
irritating.
"Fantastic," I muttered.
The ceiling above me looked unfamiliar for half a second before memory
caught up.
Seraphina's house. Fight. Six demons. Chains. Noah getting launched
through the air.
Right.
That.
I tried sitting up and pain immediately stabbed through my side hard
enough to force me back down against the mattress.
"…Okay. Cool."
The bandages wrapped around my ribs made a lot more sense now.
"You look awful."
I turned my head slightly.
Callie sat near the window, arms crossed while morning rain tapped
softly against the glass behind her.
"You say good morning to everyone like that?"
"Only you."
"How sweet."
She rolled her eyes slightly but stood anyway, walking toward the bed.
"How bad?" I asked.
"You pushed the bracelet too hard again."
Yeah, I figured.
"You've been forcing the flow every fight," she continued. "Your body's
starting to lag behind the energy output."
I frowned slightly. "In English?"
Callie sighed.
"The bracelet is strengthening you faster than your body can adapt."
Ah. That sounded… less good.
"And the chains?" I asked quietly.
"You shouldn't have manifested three at once."
"Wasn't exactly planned."
"That's the problem."
Fair enough.
I forced myself upright again more carefully this time.
Pain still flared through my ribs but not enough to stop me. Barely.
"How's Noah?"
"Alive."
"That sounded hesitant."
"He has bruised ribs and a sprained shoulder."
I winced slightly.
"He still talking?"
Callie snorted softly. "Unfortunately."
Good. That meant he was fine. Probably.
The smell of food drifted faintly through the hallway downstairs and
suddenly I realized how hungry I was.
Which honestly felt rude considering my current condition.
"You shouldn't move too much today," Callie said as I stood slowly.
"I'm fine."
"You almost collapsed after the fight."
"I didn't collapse."
"You blacked out standing up."
"Temporarily."
Callie stared at me flatly. "That's called collapsing."
I ignored her and grabbed my hoodie from the chair nearby.
The second I lifted my arm, pain shot through my shoulder hard enough to
make me pause.
Callie noticed immediately. Her expression tightened slightly.
"The delay's getting worse."
That made my chest feel heavier, because she was right. Yesterday during
the fight, there had been moments where my body reacted just a little too
slowly.
Tiny delays but in fights like ours? These delays got people killed.
Downstairs, Noah sat at the kitchen table with an ice pack balanced on
his shoulder while Riley wrapped fresh bandages around his arm.
"You know," he said seriously as I walked in, "I think I deserve
financial compensation for emotional damages."
"You jumped in front of a demon," Riley replied.
"And I would like recognition for my bravery."
"You screamed."
"I screamed strategically."
He looked up at me then and immediately pointed.
"Oh wow," he said. "You somehow look worse than me."
"Good morning to you too."
"No, seriously," Noah continued. "You look death lost interest halfway
through."
Riley snorted softy into her coffee.
Traitor.
I dropped into the chair across from them very carefully. Everything
still hurt.
Ella appeared from the hallway a second later holding one of the small
training knives Seraphina had given her earlier that week.
She paused immediately after seeing me.
"You're hurt again."
The way she said it, hit harder than it should've. She didn't sound
angry or surprised, just tired.
"I'm fine," I said automatically.
Every single person in the room looked unconvinced.
Even Noah.
Which felt disrespectful considering his current condition.
Ella walked closer slowly, staring at the bandages around my ribs.
"You said training would make this safer."
I didn't answer immediately. Because that was the problem. I had
believed that.
"We're getting stronger," I said finally.
"But so are they," Riley muttered.
Silence settled over the room after that. Heavy and uncomfortable but
true.
A few minutes later, Seraphina entered the kitchen and immediately
noticed all of us sitting there injured.
Her expression didn't change much, but something about her eyes hardened
slightly.
"The demons are adapting faster than expected," she said calmly.
Noah raised a hand slightly. "Love that for us."
Nobody laughed this time.
Seraphina looked directly at me.
"You're overextending."
I leaned back slightly. "You keep saying that like I'm trying to."
"You are."
That answer came instantly.
"You rely on burst of realm energy instead of sustained control," she
continued. "Which is why your body is beginning to reject the strain."
Reject. The word sounded dangerous.
"So what?" I asked. "I stop using it?"
"No."
Her gaze sharpened slightly
"You learn control before the bracelet burns through you completely."
The room went quiet. Even Noah stopped joking.
Callie looked toward Seraphina immediately. "It's progressing that
fast?"
"Yes."
I frowned. "Can someone explain why everyone suddenly sounds terrified.
Seraphina stepped closer.
"Because the bracelet does not care whether your body survives its
power."
The answer landed. Hard.
"The realm strengthens its wielder continuously," she continued. "But if
the wielder cannot stabilize that strength- "
"It consumes them," Callie finished quietly.
My chest tightened slightly. Cool. Very comforting conversation.
Noah looked between all of us slowly.
"…So," he said carefully, "we're just casually discussing magical
burnout death over breakfast now?"
"That's one way to phrase it," Riley muttered.
I looked down at the bracelet instinctively. It rested quietly against
my wrist. Still and silent. Like it hadn't nearly destroyed my body yesterday.
"You said sustained control," I said finally, looking back at Seraphina.
"How?"
Her gaze lingered on me for a moment, then-
"Meditation."
Noah blinked. "…That's it?"
"You say that now," Callie muttered.
"The realm responds to emotional imbalance," Seraphina explained. "Fear.
Anger. Desperation."
"…That explains Marcus," Noah said immediately.
I grabbed a piece of bread off the table and threw it at him.
He caught it one handed.
"Still got reflexed," he said proudly.
But Seraphina wasn't finished.
"The chains manifested because the bracelet reacted to your desperation
to protect your team," she continued.
I paused slightly at that. Because she was right. In that moment, when
Noah stepped in front of Riley, I hadn't thought. I had just wanted to stop it.
"The problem," Seraphina said quietly, "is that emotional surges create
unstably manifestations."
My gaze shifted downward slightly. The chains, the power, the delay
afterward.
"So if I lose control- "
"You already are."
That answer came from Callie this time.
Silence settled again. Rain tapping softly outside. The weight of
reality sitting heavily in the room.
Then Noah leaned forward slightly despite his injuries.
"Okay," he said. "Counterpoint."
We all looked at him.
"You're still alive."
I blinked. "What?"
"I'm serious," Noah continued. "Yeah, you're pushing too hard. Yeah, the
bracelet's dangerous. But three months ago, you didn't even know demons
existed."
He pointed at me. "Now you're fighting six at once."
"…Badly," Riley added.
"Surviving badly," Noah corrected.
And somehow, that actually helped a little. Because he was right. I was
improving. Even if it hurt or scared me sometimes.
The bracelet pulsed faintly against my wrist again. Warm and steady.